August, 2021

• 2 August

  UAE minister visits National Centre of Meteorology HQ

  ABU DHABI / WAM Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, visited headquarters of National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) in Abu Dhabi, where he was welcomed by Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) and President of the Regional Association II (Asia), along with senior officials and department directors from NCM. During the visit, ...

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• 2 August

  UAE council launches ‘National Bug Bounty Programme’

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) launched on Sunday phase one of the “National Bug Bounty Programme”, which aims to enhance the UAE’s cybersecurity systems, reinforce the country’s leading stature in global competitiveness indexes, as well as engage community members and public and private sector entities in the protection of infrastructure. The NCSC announced that ...

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• 2 August

  Exxon sticks to paying debts as peers revive share buybacks

  

  Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp’s knockout second-quarter results did little to entice investors because much of the extra cash coming from soaring energy and petrochemical prices will be used to pay down debt rather than reward shareholders. The oil giant and rival Chevron Corp swung to their biggest profits since pre-pandemic days, fuelled in large part by stellar performances from their ...

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• 2 August

  Brexit’s feared diplomatic crises have already begun

  

  Among the arguments that persuaded British people like me to oppose Brexit was that it would create a raft of new diplomatic headaches the UK does not need, in exchange for an anemic sort of new “freedom.” True, the European Union is a mess: I do not think it can survive into the next decade without radical upheaval. But it ...

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• 2 August

  Olympic highlights Japan’s struggles

  

  One biracial athlete carried Japan’s flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, another lit the cauldron and both global sports stars put a spotlight on what has been dubbed the “Unity in Diversity” games. Flag-bearer and NBA player Rui Hachimura and four-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka were front and center at the start of the games ...

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• 2 August

  Should Mexico probe Amlo’s predecessors

  President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is asking Mexicans to decide whether his five predecessors should be investigated for alleged wrongdoing, part of an effort to retain his anti-graft credentials and rally his support base, even though the vote’s results are likely to be toothless. Supporters of that idea have placed posters around the country depicting fake mug shots of the ...

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• 2 August

  Joe Biden struggles with the Delta variant

  President Joe Biden is struggling with a surge in coronavirus cases, an impending wave of evictions and a spike in consumer prices that have left the White House looking unprepared and threaten to undermine months of more sure-handed work on the pandemic. Biden surprised Congress owith a last-minute plea to extend a moratorium on evictions, two days before the ban’s ...

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• 2 August

  Grounded pilots swamp recruiters in fight for jobs

  

  Bloomberg When UK-based Goose Recruitment kicked off a recent campaign to find 30 Boeing Co 737 cargo pilots for a client in Europe, 400 resumes poured in within 48 hours. Most of the applicants used to fly commercial passenger jets. “Pre-Covid, most airline pilots would look down their noses at flying cargo,” Goose’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Charman said in ...

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• 2 August

  Qantas Air sells old seats to travellers awash with miles

  

  Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd will auction off items including a pair of old A380 business-class seats in a points-for-prizes sale to use up air miles amassed by frustrated travelers during the pandemic. Daily auctions kicking off next week include 2-1/2 hours in a Boeing Co 787 simulator for at least 50,000 loyalty points, Qantas said. Bids for a private charter ...

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• 2 August

  Online retailers tumble after Amazon sales damp outlook

  

  Bloomberg Shares of e-commerce companies fell sharply, with several seeing their steepest declines in months, after Amazon.com Inc’s weaker-than-anticipated sales damped the outlook for other retailers. Amazon shares fell as much as 8.1%, their biggest one-day intraday drop since May 2020. That came after its revenue lagged forecasts for the first time since 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, ...

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